False positives prevent me from donating blood

Posted by korykolar @korykolar, Aug 22, 2023

Hello,
I was a regular blood donor for a couple of years before my blood was flagged as testing positive for Hep C. A second test confirmed that the first test was a false positive so I was allowed to continue donating after a short wait period.

Then it happened again, positive for Hep C in the initial screening and negative in the second test. This time, under FDA guidelines, I was not allowed to donate to this organization.

Many years later I thought I'd try again, this time by donating at a local hospital (the only other option in my geographic area). This time my blood was flagged for Chagas Disease! Again, the follow-up test was negative, but the hospital had a one-and-done policy, so I can no longer donate there either.

Chagas Disease?! I've never even been to Latin or South America.
I mentioned all of this to my PCP and she was stumped, said she would do some research, but hasn't gotten back to me.

Does anyone have any idea what might be going on? I have O- blood and would love to donate regularly, so am just very frustrated.

Thank you.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Just Want to Talk Support Group.

It could be that you're getting false positives for these two diseases to due cross-reactivity with another antibody.

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